2x, Went back up to do Jobs and decided to tag Jobs Sister/Freel while I was up there. Couple thunderstorms rolled through Luther Pass during the trip. Returned via a sand ski down the back slope of Freel.

We hiked Freel Peak via Tahoe Rim Trail and back the nice shortcut from the saddle. Had to do some more miles because the road was blocked so we had to leave the car near Meyers.
There was a strange guy at the summit showing off with his revolver - we survived !

Dave's approach and route description of Horse Meadow to Armstrong Pass were perfect. It was a great winter hike with several inches of snow the entire way and high winds on the last mile to the summit. Very happy Rd 51 was still open and driveable to access this side of the mountain.

Followed Gary Suttle's directions on the way in, and thought I was going up the Armstrong Pass route, figured out about an hour of the way in I was actually on the steep and sandy Trout Creek use trail. This route definitely IS evil! Steep, sandy, and very brushy lower down, I lost the trail two or three times. Was very happy to reach the TRT/Freel Peak trail junction at the 9680ft saddle, a mountain biker was lolling around and was surprised to see me come up.

With the temps in the low-to-mid 90s down at lake level, I was surprised how breezy it was up higher. Put my windbreaker on for the final steep climb to the summit, winds were probably 25-30mph.

Not a cloud in the sky, absolutely gorgeous views in all directions. A bit hazy in the Central Valley blocking views to the coast range, was able to see dozens of peaks.

Instead of fighting the brush on the way down Trout Creek, decided to descend the TRT to Armstrong Pass, and then take the mountain bike trail back to Oneidas Street. This part of the trail has completely changed since Gary Suttle wrote his guidebook.

I definitely recommend coming in from the south up and over Armstrong Pass if you're planning on hiking the whole way. The mountain bike trail to Oneidas meanders a lot, and the bike traffic is a hassle.

I hiked from Forest Service Road 051 up to Armstrong pass and then bushwacked up the south ridge to the peak. On the way down I hiked east to the nearest saddle, bushwacked south down to Horse Meadow and then walked the road back to my vehicle. 2:45 hrs. up and 1:00 hr. down.

Camped at Horse Meadow and hiked up to the pass between Job's sister and Job's. Ascended Job's Sister via South Face then traversed over to Freel. Dropped (scree ski) down Free's south face back to car.

Day hiked the Tahoe Triple Crown from the south. It was very windy and cold, but we missed the first winter storm by a week. A light dusting of snow and high winds made for some spectacular spin-drifts along the ridge.

I parked my car at the little wooden bridge near the south slope and took the Tahoe rim trail towards Star Lake, summiting Freel in exactly 1.5 hours. Saw a large black bear who was coming down from near the summit of Job's sis. Took the south trail down from Job's and arrived back at my car in 4.5 hours.

Though fairly short for the actual elevation attained the Trout Creek route takes an evil approach to Freel offering steep sand for better than half the distance to the rim trail which I attained about 50 yards short of the Freel use trail. The final mile of use trail was amazing quality with rock steps and cairns to guide you along, I give a huge high five to the parties who built it! Took me about 2:45 to get to the top. Kinda let down by the volume of people at the top, I think there were 6 or 7, but well worth the adventure. Met a guy on top who after some discussion decided my way up would be worth trying for the decent (he went up to armstrong and across from Oneidas). As expected the downtrip was fast taking only 1:30 from the top back to the parking area. I suggest to others to follow Cass' route up to armstrong and down via trout, it seems to make for a better loop.